Next week is Ascension Thursday – an important commemoration in Christianity, marking Jesus’ leaving Earth and rejoining His heavenly Father. The Biblical account of Jesus ascending bodily to heaven sets the timing at forty days after His Easter Sunday Resurrection, with the location either in Bethany or the Mount of Olives, both east of Jerusalem, about two miles apart. Interestingly, both accounts mentioning location were written by the same author, Luke.
Here is how Scripture records the event:
Jesus said to her (Mary Mag′dalene), “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
– John 20:17
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
– Luke 24:50-51
As they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.
– Acts 1:9-12
Contemplating the brutality of Jesus’ Passion and the splendor of the Resurrection, I wonder if the theological significance of the Ascension is overshadowed in its importance to the Christian promise and hope. We certainly do not hear the Ascension preached with the same frequency or vehemence as the cross or the empty tomb. In fact, I have Christian friends that argue that Good Friday is the pinnacle of our faith; after all, there is no Easter Sunday without going through Good Friday first – the cross necessarily precedes the Resurrection. Likewise, I have other Christian friends that argue that the Resurrection is the central doctrine, because it proves Jesus conquered death. I understand both views.
Considering His Passion, the Lord of the universe, by self-emptying, took on human suffering and death, a brutal death by crucifixion no less, to bring fallen humanity back into right relationship with God. Of course, It did not stop there. He then rose from the dead, the first fruits of Christian hope with the promise that this life, blessing that it is, is not the end of the story when our turn comes to face death.
Much has been written about the significance of our Lord’s redemptive Passion. Here’s one example that captures it well:
“Death is certain; life is short and vanishes like smoke. Fix your minds, then, on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inflamed with love for us, he came down from heaven to redeem us. For our sake he endured every torment of body and soul and shrank from no bodily pain. He himself gave us an example of perfect patience and love. We, then, are to be patient in adversity.”
– St. Francis of Paola
But without the Resurrection, Christ rising again after His death on the cross, would we even have a Christian Church today? St. Paul left no wiggle room on this matter saying, “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:14)
The theological and historical importance of the Resurrection has been widely chronicled, much as we read here:
“The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows as definitively as possible that God is up to something greater than we had imagined or thought possible. And therefore we don’t have to live as though death were our master. In light of the Resurrection, we can begin to see this world as a place of gestation, a place of growth and maturation toward something higher, more permanent, and more splendid.”
– Bishop Robert Barron
But wait, there are other resurrection stories recounted in both the Old and New Testaments; the widow of Zarephath’s son (1 Kings 17:17-24), the Shunammite woman’s son (2 Kings 4:18-37), the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-17), Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:49-56), and Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Not exactly old news or commonplace, but documented resurrection did happen often enough. What makes Jesus’ rising from the dead different? Dare I ask, at the risk of sacrilege, what’s the big deal about His rising versus these others?
Thankfully, I can address that question: First, we have actual eyewitness testimony in Jesus’ case that He was raised with a new body. It was a body bearing the wounds of the cross, but not the broken, beaten, lacerated body that went through the brutal scourging and torture prior to crucifixion. I do think the Jesus that was raised, ascended, and we will meet in heaven face to face, will still bear the wounds of the cross – those wounds are now an integral part of his identity. But a new body nonetheless; a body not restricted by space and time, as we are told after His Resurrection that Jesus is able to appear and disappear, passing through walls. Unlike those others that Jesus resurrected, His is a spiritual body as St. Paul tells us:
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
— 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
Second, other than Elijah ascending to heaven in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11), although he did not experience an earthly death, none of the individuals recorded in the Biblical resurrections mentioned above avoided an eventual Earthly death. You wonder if for them it was like a near death experience – did they see a light, did they feel peace? Or, because they lived and died (the first time) before Jesus’ saving work, did they experience nothing, not until after He came and opened the gates of heaven for all?
Just as the Resurrection fulfills the message of Jesus’ Passion, the Ascension fulfills the implications of the Resurrection. This is why, I think, that the Ascension is so vital to the Christian message. Had there not been documentation of Jesus ascending to heaven after His Resurrection, His being raised from the dead might have been little different than the miraculous resurrections previously mentioned. It is the fact of the Ascension that makes His rising truly different. It marks the fulfillment of His Earthly mission, setting Him apart from those others raised. We are told of Jesus’ Ascension as the promise that fulfills His Resurrection, the definitive and true final victory over death, as He is now rejoined in eternal life with the Father in heaven.
His work here on Earth, the plan of salvation, finished, He revealed that He now had work to do at the right hand of the Father – by ascending, He returned to His Father in heavenly glory from whence He came. And what did He do when He got there? He went to prepare a place for us (John 14:2-3). He began His work as High Priest, one who is able “to sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:14-16). He took on the role as mediator of the new covenant (Hebrews 9:15), and as our advocate (1 John 2:1).
In addition, Scripture pictures Jesus currently in Heaven at the right hand of the Father – the position of honor and authority (Psalm 110:1, Ephesians 1:20, Hebrews 8:1) – where He serves as head of the Church (Colossians 1:18), and the giver of spiritual gifts (Ephesians 4:7-12). We even hear that Jesus gave Stephen a standing ovation for his resolute faith even while being stoned to death:
But he (Stephen), full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.”
– Acts 7:55-56
The Ascension certainly has its prominent place in salvation history. The story of the person and works of Jesus Christ, the Gospel – from His teachings, healings, and miracles, to the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension – is the greatest love story ever told. As we celebrate the commemoration of His Ascension this coming Thursday, reflect on what He did because He loves you, and what He is doing now because He wants to spend eternity with you.
Reflection questions:
- We learn in Scripture that Jesus’ resurrected body still bears the nail marks and the lance wound in His side, and presumably not all the other wounds of torture He received; why do you think that is noteworthy?
- Reflect on Jesus saying “It is finished” on the cross and then giving up His spirit (John 19:30); with that final act in our redemption, how do the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension figure into the story of salvation for you?
- Check out this sermon on the Ascension by Bishop Robert Barron: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktH4PnwWnZ0
Scripture References
John 11:1-44, 14:2-3, 19:30, 20:17
Luke 7:11-17, 8:49-56, 24:50-51
Acts 1:9-11, 7:55-56
1 Corinthians 15:14, 42-44
1 Kings 17:17-24 2 Kings 2:11, 4:18-37
Hebrews 4:14-16, 8:1, 9:15 1 John 2:1 Psalm 110:1
Ephesians 1:20, 4:7-12 Colossians 1:18
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